AN  APPEAL 

TO  THi 

CITIZENS  OF  NEW-YORK, 

I.V  BEHALF  OF 

THE  CHRISTIAN  SABBATH. 


Bv  GARDINER  SPRING, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  BRICK  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


NEW-YORK  : 

PRINTED  BY  J.  SEYMOUR,  49  JOHN-STREET. 

1823. 


lex  IGibrtfi 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


'  Tort  nieiitv  t^im^trJa-m.  Matthatarus 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

Because  tt  has  heen  said 
"Sver'thmg  comes  t'  him  who  watts 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


AN  APPEAL. 


Fellow-Citizens, 

The  demand  has  more  than  once  been 
made — What  right  have  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  inter- 
fere with  the  moral  conduct  of  the  community  ?  For  my- 
self, I  have  ever  supposed,  that  if  there  is  an  order  of  men 
who  sustain  the  weighty  responsibility  of  guardians  of  the 
public  morals,  they  are  the  ministry  of  reconciliation.  It 
would  be  weak  indeed  in  them,  to  think  of  aspiring  to  the 
exercise  of  authority  ;  but  to  that  influence  which  one  man 
exerts  over  another,  by  considerations  addressed  to  his  un- 
derstanding, his  moral  sense,  and  his  own  best  good,  a  pri- 
vilege which  the  institutions  of  a  free  country  have  guaran- 
teed to  every  free  man,  it  is  their  high  and  honest  exultation, 
humbly  and  devoutly  to  aspire.  It  is  in  the  exercise  of  no 
other  than  this  common  privilege,  that  the  writer  ventures 
to  make  an  appeal  to  the  citizens  of  New- York,  in  behalf 
of  the  Christian  Sabbath, 

To  assign  to  the  Sabbath  that  place  we  could  wish  to  see 
it  hold  in  the  creed  and  habits  of  every  well-wisher  to  the 
community,  we  must  be  allowed  to  claim  for  it  an  early 
and  high-born  origin.  In  presenting  an  outline  of  the  ar- 
gument in  favour  of  the  divine  institution  and  perpetual 
obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  we  urge  the  necessity  which  ever 
has  existed,  and  the  consequent  reasonableness,  of  some  well 
defined  period  for  the  public  worship  of  God.  It  is  a  dic- 
tate of  reason  that  if  there  is  a  God  he  ought  to  be  wor- 
shipped. If  he  ought  to  be  worshipped,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  he  should  be  worshipped  in  the  best  way.    Man  is 


4 


the  creature  of  society.  His  social  as  well  as  his  moral 
nature  gives  birth  to  obligations  which  must  influence  his 
religious  character.  If  the  social  principle  is  one  which  is 
consulted  in  giving  interest  and  importance  to  secular  con- 
cerns, why  may  it  not  be  tributary  lo  that  mightiest  con- 
cern, the  worship  of  God  ?  But,  if  it  is  tlie  duty  of  men  to 
unite  in  acts  of  social  and  public  worship,  there  exists  a  ne- 
cessity for  some  well-defined  and  fixed  season  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty.  Without  such  an  appointment,  not 
only  would  the  beauty  of  the  service  be  defaced,  and  its  or- 
der and  harmony  interrupted,  but  its  design  defeated,  and 
the  s<?rvice  itself  in  a  great  measure  neglected.  If  there  is 
any  weight  lo  be  attached  to  these  remarks,  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  observance  of  some  appointed  period  for  the 
worship  of  God  is  perpetually  binding  ;  because  the  reasons 
of  this  observance  exist  and  operate  in  all  places,  and  in 
every  age  of  the  world,  and  equally  concern  all  mankind. 

AVe  also  urge  the  general  agreement  of  the  nations  in  set- 
ting apart  every  seventh  day  for  this  particular  service.  Ever 
since  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  great  mass  of  mankind 
have  united  in  the  observance  of  every  seventh  day,  as  a 
day  of  religious  worship.*  There  is  something  worthy  of 
observation  in  the  sacredness  of  the  septenary  numbtr,  and 
in  the  circumstance  that  all  nations  unite  in  the  division  of 
time  into  weeks.  This  division  of  time  is  not  a  natural 
one,  but  is  altogether  arbitrary.  The  division  into  day  and 
night,  into  months  and  years,  is  marked  by  the  diurnal  and 
annual  revolutions  of  the  earth  round  the  sun,  and  the  moon 
round  the  earth.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  solar  system 
to  mark  the  division  of  time  into  weeks,  unless  it  be  the  di- 


*  For  the  proof  of  this  remark,  see  Bedford's  Chronology— De  Goguei, 
Origin  of  Laws,  vol.  i.  p.  250~~Groiius,  de  Veritate  Christ.  Relig.  Lib.  i.— 
Rolli7i — Jennings'^s  Jewish  ^7itiquiHes—iogether  with  an  able  discussion, 
entitled  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  concerning  the  Lord'f 
Day,  by  J.  Sjiiith.    Consult  also,  Encyclp^dia,  art.  Sab.  and  Week. 


5 


vision  of  the  month  into  quarters,  a  division  which  was  sub- 
sequent to  the  division  into  weeks,  and  to  w  hich  this  latter 
division  does  not  owe  its  origin.  The  learned  Grotius,  and 
not  without  reference  to  the  best  authorities,  affirms,  "  that 
the  memory  of  the  creation's  being  performed  within  seven 
days,  was  preserved,  not  only  among  the  Greeks  and  Ita- 
lians, but  among  the  Celts  and  Indians,  all  of  whom  divided 
their  time  into  weeks."  To  confirm  this  idea,  we  may  re- 
mark, that  the  word  the  ancients  made  use  of  to  denote  a 
iceek,  is  Sabbath,  a  word  which  denotes  rest,  or  a  day  of 
rest.*  This  division  of  time  into  weeks  no  doubt  had  its 
origin  in  the  existence  of  a  day  of  re^t,  which  either  by  the 
common  consent  of  mankind,  or  by  superhuman  appoint- 
ment, recurred  every  seventh  day,  and  constituted  the  limit 
of  every  week.  It  is  therefore  a  fact  of  some  importance, 
that  most  if  not  all  the  pagan  nations,  far  remote  from  each 
other  in  time  and  place,  and  antipodes  in  religion,  and  ma- 
ny of  whom  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  had  any  acquaint- 
ance with  the  law  of  Moses,  and  who,  if  they  had,  would 
never  have  stooped  to  borrow  a  religious  institution  from 
that  neglected  and  persecuted  people,  actually  observed 
every  seventh  day  as  a  day  of  religious  worship.  Now,  if 
the  observance  of  some  particular  season  for  rest  and  devo- 
tion is  primarily  a  law  of  nature;  if  it  is  ascertained,  that 
by  the  general  consent  of  nations  every  seventh  day  is  set 
apart  for  this  service;  this  circumstance  of  itself  furnishes 
strong  presumptive  testimony  that  the  consecration  of  eve- 
ry seventh  day  was  the  object  of  divine  appointment,  and 
the  celebration  of  it  the  matter  of  a  traditionary  revelation 
from  the  family  of  Noah.    In  addition  to  this, 

The  formal  designation  of  this  day  as  a  day  of  rest 
by  God  himself,  immediately  after  the  creation,  is  a 
consideration  of  some  force  in  this  investigation.  We 


*  Vide  Marshes  Jflichaelis. 


6 


have  the  origin  of  this  institution  In  the  following  narrative 
of  the  Sacred  Historian  :  "  Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them.  And  on  the  seventh 
day,  God  ended  the  work  which  he  had  made,  and  he  rested 
on  the  seventh  day  from  all  the  work  which  he  had  created 
and  made.  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  sancti- 
fied it;  because  on  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work." 
Here  God  put  distinguished  honour  on  the  seventh  daj',  as 
the  birth-day  of  this  great  creation.  He  "  blessed"  and 
"  sanctified"  it  as  the  day  of  mercy  and  holiness  to  man. 
When  this  institution  was  first  established,  the  Hebrew  State 
was  not  in  existence  ;  nor  did  it  take  its  rise  until  twenty- 
five  hundred  years  after  this  period  :  so  that  it  was  not,  as 
has  been  asserted,  a  mere  Mosaic  rite,  but  an  institution  of 
earlier  date,  committed  to  our  first  parents,  as  the  represen- 
tatives of  their  whole  posterity,  and  unless  repealed  by  some 
subsequent  revelation,  extending  its  binding  force,  not  only 
through  the  Patriarchal  and  Jewish,  but  Christian  dispensa- 
tions. In  conformity  with  this  primeval  institution  of  the 
Sabbath,  we  find  that  the  first  intimation  of  it  which  is  given 
to  the  Israelites,  recognises  it  as  an  institution  of  previous 
appointment.  The  first  recorded  intimation  we  have  of  it 
after  the  patriarchal  age,  is  given  to  the  Israelites  as  they 
commenced  their  march  through  the  wilderness.  No  soon- 
er had  they  penetrated  the  desert,  and  began  to  murmur 
for  want  of  food,  than  God  said  to  them,  "  Behold,  I  will 
rain  bread  from  heaven  for  you,  and  the  people  shall  go 
out  and  gather  a  certain  rate  every  day.  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass  on  the  sixth  day,  they  shall  prepare  that  which  they 
bring  in,  and  it  shall  be  twice  as  much  as  they  gather  daily. 
This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath  said,  To-morrow  is  the. 
holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord."  And  when  on  the  follow- 
ing Sabbath,  they  disregarded  the  claims  of  this  sacred  day, 
and  went  out  on  the  morning  to  gather  manna,  God  se- 
verely reprobated  their  conduct.  How  long  refuse  ye  to 
keep  my  commandments  and  my  laws  ?    Abide  ye  evpv} 


7 


man  In  his  place,  let  no  man  go  out  of  his  place  the  se- 
venth day."  May  we  not  conclude  from  language  like 
this,  that  the  Sabbath  is  an  institution  not  then  for  the  first 
time  established,  but  of  prior  and  acknowledged  existence? 

We  urge  too,  and  we  think  irresistibly,  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  precept,  requiring  the  observance  of  this  day, 
into  the  moral  law.  The  distinction  between  the  cere- 
monial and  moral  law,  consists  in  this  :  the  ceremoni- 
al law  directed  the  peculiar  policy  and  worship  of  the 
Jewish  nation — it  prescribed  the  rites  and  ceremonies  un- 
der the  Mosaic  dispensation  exclusively — such  as  the 
offering  of  sacrifices,  the  worship  of  the  temple,  the  cele- 
bration of  the  passover,  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  and  the 
feasts  of  Purim  and  Dedication.  The  moral  law  is  that  de- 
claration of  the  will  of  God,  which  directs  and  binds  all 
men,  in  every  age  and  place,  to  their  whole  duty  to  him. 
It  is  comprised  in  what  Sire  usually  called  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. The  ceremonial  law  was  temporary,  and  is 
repealed  ;  the  moral  is  permanent,  and  unrepealable.  The 
former  was  superseded  and  abolished,  at  the  introduction 
of  the  Christian  dispensation;  tlie  latter  endures  forever. 
The  moral  law  is  the  code  which  our  Lord  affirms  he  "  came  • 
not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,"  and  of  which  he  so  solemnly 
declares,  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  not  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  of  the  law  shall  fail."  And  yet,  in  thi^ 
grand  moral  code,  you  find  the  precept,  "  Remember  the 
Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy."  There  is  no  solemnity, 
obligation,  or  permanency,  here  imparted  to  the  first,  the 
second,  the  third  precept,  or  either  of  the  ten,  which  does 
not  belong  equally  to  the  fourth.  You  may  as  well  deny 
the  perpetual  obligation  of  the  whole,  as  that  which  insists 
on  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day. 

Nor  should  we  lose  sight  of  the  prediction,  that  the  en- 
joyment of  the  Sabbath  shall  be  one  of  the  distinguished 
blessings  of  the  Church  of  God  under  the  evangelical  eco- 
nomy, nor  of  the  unequivocal  recognition  of  the  existence 


8 


and  obligations  of  this  day,  after  the  Jewish  dispensation  had 
com©  to  its  close.  In  relation  to  the  universal  benefits  of 
this  day,  our  Lord  asserts,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  Now,  if  this  day 
was  instituted  for  men  generally,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  blessings  of  it  were  designed  to  be  perpetual? 
The  same  blessed  Personage  also  expressly  recognised  the 
existence  and  obligation  of  the  Sabbath,  long  after  his  re- 
surrection. Looking  forward  to  the  final  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  a  period  of  forty  years  after  the  abolition  of  the 
Jewish  economy,  he  says  to  his  disciples,  "  Pray  ye  that 
your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  nor  on  the  Sabbath  day." 
In  his  contemplations,  the  Sabbath  cprtainly  existed  iubsc- 
quent  to  the  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  also,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
liaving  spoken  of  the  change  of  the  Jewish  to  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  remarks,  "  There  remainetk  therefore  a  Sabbath 
to  the  people  of  God." 

Nor  is  the  force  of  these  considerations  at  all  diminished 
by  the  change  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  seventh  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week.  The  import  of  the  law  enforcing  the  ob- 
servance of  the  sabbatical  institution,  appears  to  me  to  be, 
that  every  seventh  day  shall  be  a  day  of  rest.  Whether  it  be 
the  first  or  last  day  of  the  week,  I  cannot  consider  essential 
to  the  institution.  Under  the  Mosaic  dispensation  it  was  the 
last;  under  the  Christian  dispensation  it  is  the  first.  There 
is  no  want  of  testimony  in  favour  of  the  change.  We  learn 
from  the  New  Testament  that  the  first  day  of  the  w  eek  was 
observed  in  commemoration  of  our  blessed  Lord's  resurrec- 
tion— that  it  was  the  day  of  administering  the  Lord's  supper 
— that  it  was  called  the  "  Lord's  day,"  in  distinction  from 
all  other  days— that  it  was  the  day  of  public  worship  for  the 
apostolic  church—that  it  was  the  day  of  the  wonderful  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  of  God — that  it  was  the  day  of  our 
Lord's  appearing  to  his  disciples — that  the  observance  of 
this  day  was  the  great  badge  of  Christianity  i;i  the  first 


9 


centuries  of  the  Christian  era;  and  from  the  history  of  the 
Church,  that  it  has  been  the  day  vvhicli  the  God  of  heaven 
has  hallowed  and  blessed  to  men  in  every  subsequent  age 
of  the  world.  The  objections  to  the  divine  institution  and 
permanent  obligation  of  the  Lord's  day  are  comparatively 
frivolous.  The  Great  Legislator  has  given  infinite  force 
to  the  precept,  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy." 

But  it  is  not  my  design  in  this  Appeal,  to  exhibit  to  any 
considerable  extent,  the  divine  authority  and  perpetual  obli- 
gation of  the  Sabbath.  There  is  a  point  of  view  in  which 
it  may  perhaps  commend  itself  to  the  consciences  of  men 
who  question  its  divine  authority. 

The  peculiar  and  appropriate  employment  of  this  day 
consists  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  the  duties  of  do- 
mestic and  personal  piety,  to  the  exclusion  of  idleness  and 
sloth,  of  secular  business,  and  of  pleasure  and  amusement. 
ll  may  be  there  are  advantages  attendant  on  the  obser- 
vance of  this  institution,  which  will  give  it  a  place  in  the 
affections  of  ever}'  man  who  identifies  himself  with  the  high 
interests  of  human  society.  I  have  often  thought  that  some 
men  disregarded  the  claims  of  this  day  with  a  spirit  that 
calls  in  question  scarcely  any  thing  more  than  their  patri- 
otism ;  and  who,  if  they  were  aware  of  the  invariable  ten- 
dencies of  its  observance,  would  rejoice  in  its  appointment, 
and  greet  its  return  with  an  enthusiasm  like  that  with  which 
they  hail  the  birth-day  of  their  country's  freedom. 

Is  it  too  much  to  affirm,  that  the  sabbatical  institu- 
tion   IS    PRE-EMINENTLY  THE  MEANS  OF  INTELLECTUAL 

ADVANCEMENT  ?  In  the  performance  of  the  appropriate 
duties  of  the  Sabbath,  every  person  either  becomes  a  teacher 
or  a  learner,  and  derives  his  instructions  from  the  best  and 
most  important  sources.  He  either  reads  or  hears  the  Holy 
Scriptures ;  he  listens  to  the  instructions  and  counsels  of  wis- 
dom from  the  house  of  God  ;  he  occupies  a  place  in  the  school 
of  Christ,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  and  that  with  the  pro- 

B 


10 


fessed  object  of  becoming  acquainted  wiih  subjects  uhicb 
interest  his  mind,  elicit  thouglit  and  inquiry,  and  produce 
thatdiscipline  ofthe  understanding,  and  capacity  for  intellec- 
tual effort,  which  arc  the  proximate  design  of  all  education. 

Ignorance  and  barbarism  form  no  part  of  the  character  of 
men  who  revere  the  Lord's  day.    It  is  impossible  to  con- 
demn to  meanness  and  obscurity  the  individual,  or  the  com- 
munity, who  rejoice  in  the  light  ofthe  Christian  Sabbath. 
Carry  the  privileges  of  this  day  to  the  most  abject  on  the 
face  of  this  globe,  and  just  in  the  proportion  in  which 
they  are  subjected  to  its  induencc,  do  you  elevate  them 
from  their  intellectual  degradation.    The  reason  for  this 
is  obvious.    There  is  no  small  portion  of  mankind,  whose 
only  opportunity  of  information  is  derived  from  the  Sab- 
bath.    And  it  is  no  contemptible  opportunity.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  years  of  infancy,  and,  perhaps, 
sickness,  it  consists  of  one  day  in  seven,  and  ordinarily  of 
one-seventh  part  of  an  entire  life.    The  child  who  lives  but 
seven  years,  is  furnished,  from  this  day  alone,  with  one  entire 
year  of  important  instruction  ;  the  youth  who  dies  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  is  furnished  with  two  years ;  the  man  of 
twenty-one,  with  three  years ;  the  man  of  forty-two,  with 
six  years ;  the  man  of  eighty,  with  nearly  tw^elve  entire 
years  of  uninterrupted  learning.    You  may  suppose  an  in- 
dividual, a  family,  or  community,  either  so  faulty  or  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  be  deprived  of  all  instruction,  except  on  the 
Sabbath  ;  but  if  the  instructions  of  the  Sabbath  are  im- 
proved, it  is  impossible  they  should  be  ignorant.  One-seventh 
part  of  human  life,  even  with  persons  thus  abject,  is  devoted 
to  the  attainment  of  knowledge.  The  Sabbath,  in  this  parti- 
cular, affects  the  great  mass  of  mankind.  It  addresses  its  ob- 
ligations, and  presents  its  privileges  to  all  orders  and  classes 
of  men,  the  low,  as  well  as  the  high,  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich.  Conceive,  then,  the  great  mass  ofthe  community  devot- 
ing one  day  in  seven  to  the  attainment  of  knowledge ;  our 
dav  in  seven  searching  the  holy  scriptures:  assembling  in  tho 


11 


house  of  God  to  hear  the  instructions  of  his  ministers:  and 
then  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath,  The  Sab- 
bath  also  furnishes  the  world  with  instruction  in  the  tender- 
est  and  most  docile  age.  That  great  precept  in  the  deca- 
logue which  enforces  the  observance  of  this  day,  has  a 
particular  direction  for  masters  and  heads  of  families.  It 
contemplates  the  assiduous  and  indefatigable  instruction 
of  the  rising  generation,  and  through  those  domestic  in- 
strumentalities which  are  invested  with  powerful  per- 
suasion, and  usually  attended  with  happy  success.  To 
what  a  multitude  of  children  does  the  Sabbath  pre- 
sent the  best  time,  the  best  opportunity,  and  the  best 
motives  for  the  attainment  of  instruction.  And  with  what 
inconceivable  force  may  we  make  this  appeal  when  we  ad- 
vert to  that  blessed  expedient  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  the 
establishment  of  Sunday  Schools !  Scarcely  do  our  children 
come  into  existence,  than  they  are  encircled  by  the  light  of 
Sabbaths.  From  their  early  years  they  look  toward  the  Sab- 
bath and  the  sanctuary  as  the  appointed  means  of  instruc- 
tion. They  grow  up  under  the  cheering  influence  of  this 
day  of  knowledge;  and  whether  they  become  improved  or 
degraded  in  a  spiritual  view,  intellectually,  and  that  through 
the  whole  course  of  their  existence,  they  are  under  obliga- 
tions to  the  Sabbath.  There  is  something  too  in  the  kind 
of  instruction  which  the  Sabbath  communicates,  which  has 
a  happy  influence  on  the  human  mind.  It  relates  to  themes 
on  which  are  staked  our  dearest  interests  for  this  world  and 
the  world  to  come.  It  calls  the  soul  away  from  the  bustle 
of  this  vain  world  to  contemplate  the  wonderful  works  of 
God  in  creation,  providence,  and  redemption.  It  casts  a 
veil  over  what  is  seen,  and  uncovers  to  the  eye  of  the  mind 
what  is  unseen.  It  throws  back  into  oblivion  the  lying  va- 
nities of  time,  sense,  and  creatures,  and  brings  forward  the 
solid  and  permanent  realities  of  eternity,  faith,  and  the  Cre- 
ator, every  where  disclosing  facts,  principles,  and  results, 
which  arrest  the  wandering  intellect,  and  are  fitted  to  ex- 


/ 

/ 

/ 

12 

paiid  and  exult  it  for  ever.  It  is  the  incessant  occupancy  of 
the  mind  by  objects  of  sense  and  the  pursuits  of  this  world, 
that  unfits  it  for  sober  thought  and  the  attainment  of  useful 
knowledge.  Exclusive  immersion  in  the  perplexities  and 
cupidity  of  business  debases  the  intellectual  nature  of  men; 
and  it  is  only  by  being  conversant  with  objects  and  truths 
of  a  more  exalted  kind,  that  the  soul  projects  her  noblest 
achievements,  and  makes  her  most  rapid  progression.  I  am 
persuaded  more  is  accomplished,  directly  or  indirectly,  by 
the  various  institutions  of  the  Sabbath,  to  enlighten  the 
liuman  mind,  than  is  accon»plished  in  any  other  way.  As 
the  means  of  mere  intellectual  advancement,  I  would  not 
exchange  the  Sabbath  for  all  other  means  of  instruction. 
The  Sabbath  is  the  great  day  of  light  to  this  benighted 
world.  The  earth  would  scarcely  be  darker  without  the 
sun,  than  the  intellectual  hemisphere  without  the  Sab))ath. 

There  is  another  thought  not  unworthy  of  our  notice  ; 
the  Sabbath  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  sound  mo- 
rality. Morality  is  a  matter  o  f principle.  "  Out  of  the  heart 
are  the  issues  of  life."  Let  the  principles  of  moral  obligation 
once  become  universally  relaxed,  and  the  practice  of  mo- 
rality will  become  loose  and  unhinged  in  the  same  propor- 
tion. A  man  caunot  preserve  his  own  morals — a  parent 
cannot  preserve  the  morals  of  his  children,  after  he  has  ta- 
ken away  the  sanctions,  and  erased  the  impressions  of  reli- 
gious obligation.  Take  away  these  sanctions,  and  you 
will  soon  see  how  much  his  ow  n  and  the  morals  of  his 
famil}'  owe  to  the  sacredness  of  good  principles.  It  is  im- 
possible that  a  wholesome  morality  should  be  maintained 
in  any  community  without  an  active  impression  of  religious 
obligation.  If  you  can  persuade  a  community  to  reject 
the  grand  principles  of  moral  obligation;  if  you  can  lead 
them  to  doubt  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— to  question  the  reality  and  obligation  of  natural  re- 
ligion—to hesitate  w  hether  there  be  any  such  thing  as  vir- 
tue or  vice,  or  whether  the  soul  w  ill  have  any  future  exist- 


13 


cnce,  and  if  it  has,  whether  there  he  an  eternal  state  of  re- 
wards and  punishments — or  whether  there  exists  any  such 
Being  as  God  ;  if  you  can  bring  a  comjjiiunity  to  this  dire- 
ful point  of  skepticism  or  infidelity  ;  you  are  sure  to  have 
broken  down  the  barriers  of  moral  virtue,  and  to  have 
hoisted  the  floodgates  of  immorality  and  crime.  There  is 
one  institution,  fellow-citizens,  which  opposes  itself  to  this 
progress  of  human  degeneracy,  and  throws  an  impenetrable 
shield  around  the  interests  of  moral  virtue  in  our  troubled 
world.  It  is  the  Sabbath.  In  the  awful  struggle  between 
virtue  and  vice,  notwithstanding  the  powerful  auxiliaries 
which  the  cause  of  iniquity  finds  in  the  bosoms  of  men,  in 
the  force  of  self-indulgence,  and  the  influence  of  popular 
example,  wherever  the  Sabbath  has  been  suflered  to  live 
and  exert  her  benignant  authority,  the  trembling  interests 
of  moral  virtue  have  always  been  revered  and  supported. 
The  great  business  of  this  da}^  is  to  explain,  demonstrate, 
and  enforce  the  leading  principles  of  a  sound  morality. 
Wherever  the  Sabbath  is  observed,  you  behold  a  nation  as- 
sembling one  day  in  seven,  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
best  moral  principles,  and  hear  the  best  moral  precepts. 
And  where  this  is  the  case,  in  defiance  of  the  love  of  sin,  the 
authority  of  moral  virtue  must  be  acknowledged,  and  the 
influence  of  the  Sabbath  must  be  felt.  We  may  not  at 
once  perceive  the  eflfects  which  the  recurrence  of  this 
day  has  upon  human  society.  "  Like  most  moral  causes, 
it  operates  slowl}^  but  surely,"  but  wherever  it  comes,  it 
gradually  weakens  the  power  and  breaks  the  yoke  of 
profligacy  and  sin.  And  here  let  it  be  remarked,  in 
perfect  accordance  with  these  suggestions  will  be  found 
the  history  of  individuals  and  associations  of  men.  No 
villain  regards  the  Sabbath.  No  vicious  family  regards 
the  Sabbath.  No  worthless  alid  immoral  community  re- 
gards the  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  is  a  barrier  which  must 
be  broken  down,  before  men  can  become  giants  in  iniquity. 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Hale  of  Endand  rejmarks.    that  of  all 


14 


the  persons  wlio  were  convicted  of  capital  crimes,  while  he 
was  upon  the  bench,  he  found  a  few  only,  who  would  not 
confess,  on  inquiry,  that  they  began  their  career  of  wick- 
edness, by  a  neglect  of  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  and  vi- 
cious conduct  on  that  day."  I  should  like  to  see  an  au- 
thentic and  correct  history  of  all  the  prisons  in  the  land  ; 
and  unless  I  am  much  deceived,  such  a  statement  would  not 
present  an  instance  of  an  individual  who  had  not  broken 
over  the  restraints  of  the  Sabbath  before  he  was  abandon- 
ed to  crime,  and  who  could  not  mark  the  profanations  of 
that  day  as  forming  an  advanced  stage  in  his  downward  ca- 
reer. You  may  enact  laws  for  the  prevention  of  crime; 
you  may  frame  them  with  judgment,  and  execute  them  with 
promptness  and  impartiality;  but  the  secret  and  silent  influ- 
ence of  the  Sabbath  is  a  greater  preventive  of  crimes,  and 
does  of  itself  "  constitute  a  stronger  shield  to  the  vital  in- 
terests of  a  community,  tiian  any  code  of  penal  statutes  that 
ever  was  enacted."  Sound  morality  has  no  such  founda- 
tion as  the  Sabbatli.  The  Sabbath  is  the  key-stone  of  the 
Temple  of  Virtue,  which,  however  it  may  be  defaced,  will 
survive  many  a  rude  shock,  and  retain  much  of  its  pristine 
magnificence,  as  long  as  its  foundation  remains  firm. 

As  a  general  remark,  I  would  say,  the  Sabbath  is  a  dis- 
tinguished MEANS  OF  NATIONAL  PROSPERITY.  The  God  of 

heaven  has  annexed  very  great  and  precious  promises  to  the 
sacred  observance  of  this  day,  involving  emphatically  "  the 
life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  that  which  is  to  come."  He  told  his 
ancient  people,  "  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  Sab- 
bath, from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day,  and  call 
the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord  honourable, 
and  slialt  honour  him  not  doing  thine  own  ways,  nor 
finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own  words, 
then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  I  will  cause 
thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and  feed  thee 
with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father,  for  the  mouth  of  the 
TiOrd  hatl'  Fpoken  it."    Again  he  say?,  "If  ye  will  dili- 


15 


gently  hearken  unto  me,  to  bring  in  no  burden  through  the 
gates  of  tliis  city  on  the  Sabbath  day,  but  hallow  the  Sab- 
bath day  to  do  no  work  therein  ;  there  shall  there  enter  into 
the  gates  of  this  city  kings  and  princes  sitting  upon  the 
throne  of  David,  riding  in  chariots  and  on  horses,  they  and 
their  princes,  the  men  of  Judah  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  this  city  shall  remain  for  ever,"  You  will 
not  often  find  a  notorious  Sabbath-breaker  a  permanent- 
ly prosperous  man  ;  or  a  Sabbath-breaking  community,  a 
prosperous  and  happy  community.  "  Them  that  honour 
me,"  saith  God,  "  I  will  honour."  The  learned  and  devout 
jurist,  whose  name  we  just  now  mentioned,  remarks,  re- 
specting liimself,  "  I  have  found,  by  a  strict  and  diligent 
observation,  that  a  due  observing  the  duty  of  this  day.  hath 
ever  had  joined  to  it  a  blessing  upon  the  rest  of  my  time; 
and  the  week  that  hath  been  so  begun,  hath  been  blessed 
and  prosperous  to  me.  And,  on  the  other  side,  when  I 
have  been  negligent  of  the  duties  of  this  day,  the  rest  of  the 
week  hath  been  unsuccessful  and  unhappy  to  my  secular 
employments ;  so  that  I  could  easily  make  an  estimate  of 
my  successes  in  my  own  secular  employments  the  week 
following,  by  the  manner  of  observing  this  day  ;  and  this,'- 
he  adds,  "  I  do  not  write  lightly  or  inconsiderately,  but 
upon  a  long  and  sound  observation  and  experience." 

It  is  obvious  that  temporal  prosperity  would  be  the  na- 
tural result  of  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  if  it  secured 
nothing  more  than  the  blessings  to  which  we  have  already  re- 
lerred.  But  there  are  other  particulars  in  which  the  tenden- 
cies of  this  day  exert  a  most  salutary  influence  on  human  so- 
ciety. The  "  provision  which  this  holy  day  furnishes  of  a 
season  of  rest  to  labouring  animals,"  the  "  rest  and  refresh- 
ment secured  to  mankind" — the  "  neatness  and  cleanliness 
which  it  promotes,  especially  among  the  lower  classes  of 
men" — the  "  softness  and  civility  of  manners"  which  it  dif- 
fuses throughout  a  community — the  "  tendency  of  the  Sab- 
bath to  abase  our  pride  and  remove  our  native  ruggcdness  of 


16 


disposition'' — tlic  self  respect  and  elevation  of  character  to 
which  it  so  successfully  invites  those  vvlio  observe  it  with 
decency  :  all  these  evince  that  the  "  Sabbath  was  made  lor 
man,"  and  is  instrumentally  the  great  dispenser  of  prospe- 
rity and  happiness. 

In  addition  to  these  advantages,  the  influence  theSabbatli 
exerts  on  social  order  and  civil  liberty  is  by  no  means  of 
little  importance.  It  may  be  questioned,  whether  a  nation 
of  slaves  was  ever  found  where  the  institutions  of  the  Sab- 
bath have  been  enjoyed  in  their  purity.  It  is  impossible  a 
people  can  be  "  hoodwinked  and  misruled  either  by  kings, 
princes,  or  priests,"  where  the  Sabbath  proclaims  its  legiti- 
mate immunities,  or  insists  on  its  felicitous  obligations. 
The  yoke  of  tyranny  and  superstition  cannot  bear  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Sabbath,  Let  a  nation  be  composed  of  men 
who  sacredly  revere  the  Sabbath,  and  they  are  no  longer  the 
fit  subjects  of  unlawful  authority,  or  irresistible  usurpation. 
And  what,  tliink  you,  would  become  of  liie  liberties  of  a  na- 
tion, where  all  its  inhabitants  were  Sabbatli-breakers  ?  How 
long  would  freedom  survive  the  extermination  of  the  Sabbath? 

Nor  is  the  influence  of  the  Sabbath  to  be  disregard- 
ed as  it  respects  the  means  of  a  comfortable  subsist- 
ence. It  would  be  well  if  men  who  are  interested  to  ele- 
vate the  condition  of  the  poor,  and  lessen  the  sources,  and 
diminish  the  amount  of  human  poverty  and  wretchedness, 
would  soberly  think  of  the  advantages  of  the  Sabbath,  as 
one  of  the  most  efiicient  expedients  for  the  prevention  of 
pauperism.  It  would  be  no  useless  information,  if  a  statis- 
tic account  could  be  furnished  of  the  commerce,  agriculture, 
manufactures,  arts,  tranquillity,  affluence  and  elevation  of 
particular  communities  which  have  been  abandoned  to  a 
general  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  contrasted  with  a 
similar  view  of  communities  in  which  this  hoh^  da}-  has 
been  observed  with  the  reverence  due  to  its  divine  authority. 
We  have  no  question  w  hat  the  result  of  the  contrast  would 
be.    To  men  and  communities  who  pl'ofane  the  Sabbath. 


17 


to  say  nothing  of  the  cognate  vices  of  this  profanation,  and 
the  waste  of  property  in  maintaining  them,  this  day  is  not 
only  the  most  expensive  of  all  the  seven,  but  notunfrequent- 
ly,  of  itself  consumes  the  earnings  of  the  six  days  toil.  Upon 
the  poorer  class  of  the  community  especially,  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  will  be  found  to  have  an  incalculable 
influence  in  rescuing  them  from  want,  and  elevating  them 
to  the  decencies  of  a  comfortable  subsistence.  A  poor  man, 
an  impoverished  community,  can  badly  afford  to  indulge 
in  the  neglect  of  the  Sabbath.  Nor  is  what  I  say  theory 
merely.  You  cannot  find  the  abject  poor  among  those 
who  pay  a  serious  and  reverential  regard  to  the  Sabbath. 
The  most  filthy,  starved,  and  wretched  of  the  human  family, 
'Nvill  be  found  among  those  who  habitually  and  always  dis- 
regard the  Sabbath.  The  host  of  mendicants  that  infest 
the  community,  especially  in  our  large  towns,  will  be  found 
to  issue  from  cellars  and  garrets  that  have  never  been  con- 
secrated to  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day.  Let  a  man 
look  round  upon  the  world  with  the  eye  of  a  philanthropic 
economist  merely,  and  he  will  see  abundant  evidence,  that 
the  Sabbath  was  instituted  in  kindness  to  man,  and  that  a 
sacred  and  strict  observance  of  it  tends  directly  to  promote 
the  temporal  prosperity  of  mankind. 

But  there  is  another  consideration  of  still  weightier  im- 
port ;  and  though  I  do  not  in  these  pages  address  you  from 
the  pulpit,  it  is  one  which  I  may  not  suppress :  the  Sab- 
bath is  THE  GREAT  MEANS  OF  PERPETUATING  IN  THE 
EARTH  THE   KNOWLEDGE   OP  TRUE   RELIGION  ?      Very  feW 

men,  if  any,  are  universal  skeptics.  All  nations  have  some 
impressions  of  a  religious  sort,  be  they  ever  so  erroneous. 
The  moral  and  intellectual  constitution  of  men  in  this  mat- 
ter, is  very  clearly  disclosed  in  the  number  and  diversity  of 
religions  which  find  a  place  on  the  earth.  To  limit  the 
prodigious  increase  of  errors  on  a  subject  so  interesting  to 
mankind,  God  early  gave  them  the  Sabbath  as  the  means  of 
perpetuating  the  true  religion.    Hence  this  day,  wherever 

C 


13 


it  lias  been  duly  observed,  has  been  the  great  preservative 
against  polytheism  and  idolatry.  God  said  to  the  Israel* 
ites,  "  Surely  my  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep,  for  it  is  a  sign 
between  me  and  you,  thut  ye  may  know  that  1  am  the  Lord" 
The  events  which  the  Patriarchal,  the  Jewish,  and  the 
Christian  Sabbath  commemorate,  are,  the  original  creation, 
the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  re- 
surrection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead;  events  which 
have  ever  been  considered  characteristic  of  the  true  religion. 
If  these  three  events  can  be  established,  the  religion  found- 
ed on  them  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  of  divine  origin. 
Now  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  transmits  these  events 
down  to  the  successive  generations  of  men,  as  matters  of 
uncontrovertible  reality  ;  so  that  the  Sabbath  is  a  "  sign" 
between  God  and  man,  recurring  every  week,  and  a  sign  of 
such  singular  significance,  that  the  religion  of  which  these 
events  constitute  so  prominent  a  part,  must  be  the  true  reli- 
gion. You  have  seen  coins,  and  pillars,  and  monuments,  and 
have  observed  holidays,  which  were  unequivocal  demon- 
strations of  the  events  they  were  designed  to  commemo- 
rate. Of  the  same  general  nature  is  the  Sabbath.  It  is 
a  public  observance  of  matters  of  fact,  the  reality  of  which 
could  be  easily  ascertained,  which  was  got  up  from  the 
period  in  which  the  facts  themselves  took  place,  and  as 
such,  has  come  down  through  successive  centuries  to 
the  present  hour.  We  should  have  known  nothing  of 
the  Sabbath,  but  for  the  events  themselves  which  this 
day  commemorates.  When  we  speak  of  the  Sabbath, 
we  at  once  recur  to  the  reasons  of  its  institution.  When 
our  children  witness  the  observance  of  this  day,  and  in- 
quire why  one  day  in  seven  is  set  apart  from  a  secular  to  a 
religious  purpose,  we  are  at  once  led  to  a  disclosure  of  the 
events  of  which  this  day  is  the  memorial;  and  when  their 
children,  and  their  children's  children,  find  themselves  the 
possessors  of  such  an  observance,  they  will  also  be  possess^ 
ed  of  the  events  which  the  observance  commemorates,  and 


19 


in  these,  possess  an  epitome  of  the  evidences  in  favour  of  the 
true  religion. 

Wherever  the  Sabbath  exists  therefore,  and  is  observ- 
ed, there  exists  the  knowledge  of  the  one  God,  and  the 
one  Mediator.    To  this  institution  it  is,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, owing,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  true  religion  has 
been,  and  is  still,  preserved  in  the  world.    If  you  find  a 
spot  so  abandoned  as  to  be  a  stranger  to  the  Sabbath,  there, 
you  may  rest  assured,  is  no  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 
France,  in  the  age  of  her  great  moral,  as  well  as  politi- 
cal revolution,  abolished  the  Sabbath,  and  with  it  abolish- 
ed her  religion,  declared  that  there  was  no  God  but  rea- 
son, and  no  hereafter  except  the  grave.    The  same  result 
will  follow  the  same  premises,  wherever  the  experiment 
shall  be  made.    The  nation  that  disowns  the  Sabbath,  is, 
necessarily,  a  nation  of  infidels  and  atheists.    You  may 
look  where  you  will,  either  among  individuals,  families,  or 
communities,  and  if  the  Sabbath  is  a  desolation,  there  you 
will  find  a  gradual  and  certain  decay  from  true  religion  to 
infidelity  and  paganism.-  Let  the  Sabbath  be  forgotten  for 
half  a  century  in  our  own  favoured  land,  and  in  vain  might 
you  look  for  a  single  Christian  temple  throughout  this 
western  hemisphere.    There  are  towns  and  villages  on  this 
continent,  and  even  within  our  own  commonwealth,  where, 
for  half  a  century,  the  Sabbath  has  been  neglected  and 
despised;  and,  if  you  will  visit  them,  you  will  see  that  you 
have  no  necessity  of  going  to  India,  or  the  Southern 
ocean,  to  find  immortal  beings  who  are  ignorant  of  their 
immortality,  and  men  who  must  soon  appear  before  God 
in  judgment,  who  have  seldom  heard  of  God  and  his  Christ. 
There  is  just  as  much  importance,  therefore,  attached  to 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  there  is  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  true  religion  among  men. 

Allied  to  this  thought,  I  may  add,  the  Sabbath  is  the 

GREAT  MEANS  OF  HOLINESS  AND  ETERNAL  LIFE.   Man  is  by 

nature  dead  in  sin,  and  under  the  curse  of  God's  righteous 


20 


law.  Such  he  must  remain,  unless  transformed  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  all  the  moral  character  of  his  soul,  and 
justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus.  The  great  means  of  this  moral  transforma- 
tion is  found  in  the  institutions  of  the  holy  Sabbath.  Not 
only  does  this  day  perpetuate  the  knowledge  of  the  true  re- 
ligion on  the  earth,  but  secures  the  existence  of  vital  reli- 
gion in  the  hearts  of  men.  The  various  means  of  grace, 
so  abundantly  blessed  of  God,  are  all  by  his  own  appoint^ 
ment  brought  into  action  on  this  holy  day.  But  for  the 
Sabbath,  they  would  not  be  once  thought  of  on  other  days; 
but  for  the  Sabbath,  they  would  soon  be  erased  from  the 
recollections  of  men,  and  blotted  out  from  the  record  of 
human  affairs.  Is  the  soul  enlightened,  convinced  of  sin, 
humbled,  renewed,  invigorated,  comforted,  assisted  in  its 
struggles  with  this  conflicting  world,  brought  forward  on 
its  spiritual  pilgrimage,  sanctified,  prepared  to  triumph 
over  death  and  the  grave,  made  meet  for  heaven,  clothed 
as  an  angel  of  liglit,  and  presented  before  the  throne  of  God 
without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ?  All  this  light, 
and  purity,  and  consolation,  and  honour,  and  glory,  she 
owes  instrumentally  to  the  Sabbath.  Is  this  the  happy  al- 
lotment of  the  Church  of  God  collectively  ?  Are  such  the 
possessions  of  the  nations  of  the  saved,  composed  as  they 
are  of  a  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number,  from 
every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people.^  With  one  voice 
must  they  ascribe  this  inestimable  inheritance  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Sabbath.  Blot  out  the  Sabbath,  and  you  blot  out 
the  last  beam  of  hope  from  the  troubled  and  desponding 
heart.  Blot  out  the  Sabbath,  and  no  longer  will  the  salutary 
lessons  of  the  Bible  lead  ungodly  men  to  repentance  and 
salvation.  No  longer  will  the  silver  clarion  of  the  gospel 
proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  th*e  opening  of  death's 
prison  doors  to  those  that  arc  bound.  No  longer  will  the 
voice  of  supplication  ascend  from  this'ruined  world,  to  draw 
from  heaven  the  blessing  now  so  munificently  imparted  by 


21 


the  hearer  of  prayer.  No  longer  will  the  Spirit  of  truth 
and  grace  dwell  among  men,  to  dissipate  their  darkness 
and  communicate  that  influence  which  makes  the  desert 
like  Eden,  and  the  wilderness  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord. 
No  longer  will  the  temples  of  the  Most  High  allure  the 
heavy  laden  sinner  to  the  mercy-seat.  No  longer  will  the 
sacred  thanksgivings  of  the  church  on  earth,  intermingling 
with  the  sweeter  and  purer  harmony  of  the  church  in  hea- 
ven, ascend  as  a  sweet-smelling  savour  before  the  God  of 
the  spirits  of  all  flesh.  No  longer  will  ordinances  quickea 
— or  the  soul  be  comforted — or  grace  be  triumphant — or 
the  unnumbered  heirs  of  sin  and  perdition  be  conducted  in 
the  path  that  terminates  at  God's  right  hand.  No ;  blot 
out  the  Sabbath,  and  darkness  will  cover  the  earth,  and 
gross  darkness  the  people.  Sin  will  reign,  Satan  will  walk 
through  the  earth  in  all  the  frenzy  of  his  long-wished-for 
usurpation,  and  death  and  hell  will  follow  in  his  train. 
Blot  out  the  Sabbath,  and  in  one  mighty  crowd  of  pilgrims, 
this  world's  population  would  march  quietly  on  to  the  gulf 
of  remediless  ruin. 

Such,  fellow-citizens,  are  the  views  which  I  venture  to 
suggest  to  you  relative  to  the  importance  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath.  With  men  of  high  honour  and  sound  patri- 
otism may  I  be  allowed  to  hope  they  will  have  their  in- 
fluence ?  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  give  them  the 
force  and  allurement  which  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  my 
theme  demands.  As  a  man  of  the  world  merely,  I  venerate 
the  Sabbath.  I  would  not  be  the  agent  in  the  destruction 
of  this  benevolent  institution,  for  all  that  earth  can  give. 
Indeed,  this  world  would  have  very  little  to  bestow,  when 
all  that  is  illuminating  and  pure,  elevating  and  noble,  se- 
rene and  holy,  have  become  exiled  from  among  men,  as  they 
must  be  with  the  extermination  of  this  sacred  day. '  That 
man  has  already  lived  too  long,  who  has  survived  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  Sabbath.  But  why  should  I  speak  as  an 
inhabitant  of  this  world  merely  ?    Immortal  existence  it- 


22 


self  would  be  a  curse,  if  extended  beyond  the  blessings  of 
the  Sabbath.  No,  I  would  not  be  the  witness  of  its  extinc- 
tion, I  would  not  stand  by  and  hear  the  dying  groans  of 
this  day  of  mercy,  for  all  the  universe  can  give.  Kalher 
would  I  yield  my  immortality,  than  hear  the  knell  that 
tolls  the  departure  of  this  Great  Day. 

But  I  must  return  :  there  is  a  thought  which  it  was  my 
purpose  to  submit  to  your  consideration  before  I  close.  It 
is  this  :  Does  not  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath^  in  a  civil 
view,  invest  it  with  an  undeniable  claim  to  the  protection  of 
public  law  ?    The  laws  of  all  Christian  States  have,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  given  their  authority  and  protection 
to  the  Sabbath.   Men  of  wisdom,  honour,  and  virtue,  have 
ever  felt  that  it  ought  to  be  among  the  earliest  objects  of  their 
solicitude  to  perpetuate  the  blessings  of  this  holy  day.  And 
does  not  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath  plead  irresistibly  for 
this  paternal  interposition  ?  Is  the  Sabbath  the  great  means 
of  perpetuating  in  the  earth  the  knowledge  of  the  true  reli- 
gion ?    Is  it  the  great  means  of  intellectual  advancement 
Does  it  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  sound  morality  ^    Is  it 
not  less  a  distinguished  means  of  temporal  prosperity, 
than  of  holiness  and  eternal  life  ?    Then  is  there  no  in- 
stitution around  which  a  more  impenetrable  barrier  of 
wholesome  restrictions  ought  to  be  erected.    The  Sabbath 
is  the  noblest  and  firmest  pillar  of  a  well-regulated  society. 
It  is  the  corner-stone  of  that  noble  edifice  of  morals,  li- 
berty, and  public  weal,  which  is  the  pride  and  exultation  of 
every  prosperous  community.    If  our  political  institutions 
cannot  be  preserved  unless  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  land 
arc  formed  on  the  basis  of  sound  morality ;  if  morality  can- 
not be  maintained  without  the  active  impression  of  religious 
principle;  and  if  neither  can  exist  long  where  the  Sabbath 
exerts  none  of  its  heaven-bora  influence  ;  then  is  it  not  the 
truest  policy  of  a  State  to  enforce  the  observance  of  this 
day  X    It  is  impossible  human  laws  should  bind  men  to  be 
religious  ;  and  nothing  would  be  more  preposterous  than  tc 


23 


attempt  it.    You  may  bribe  them  to  be  hypocrites,  but  you 
cannot  force  them  to  be  at  heart  the  servants  of  God,  But 
h  is  surely  no  impossible  thing  to  suppress  the  open  and  in- 
trepid violations  of  the  Sabbath.     I  hear  you  say,  It 
would  be  an  infringement   of  the  rights  of  conscience 
and  personal  liberty  !   But  do  the  rights  of  conscience  and 
personal  liberty  consist  in  allowing  every  man  to  do  as  he 
pleases,  irrespective  what  is  right  in  itself  and  the  best  good 
of  the  State  f  As  well  might  you  affirm  it  to  be  an  infringe- 
ment of  the  rights  of  conscience  and  personal  liberty  to  im- 
pose a  legal  restraint  upon  fraud  and  forgery.    If  you  re- 
ply, Crimes  of  this  sort  are  a  violation  of  the  divine  law, 
and  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  the  community ;  I  re- 
join, so  is  the  violation  of  the  Lord's  day.    Nay  more,  I 
seriously  doubt  whether  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath  is  not 
vastly  more  injurious  to  the  community,  than  any  act  of 
fraud  which  you  can  mention.    1  recollect  that  not  long 
since,  the  present  king  of  Great  Britain,  on  his  return  from 
a  tour  to  Scotland,  passed  from  Gravesend  to  London  on 
the  Sabbath  ;  and  I  am  confident  that  this  single  violation  of 
that  sacred  day — desolating,  as  it  did,  to  a  considerable  de- 
gree, the  neighbouring  churches — letting  loose,  as  it  did,  the 
crowded  population  of  London — and  procuring,  as  it  did,  an 
aggregate  of  immorality  which  is  not  the  lot  of  common 
scenes  to  witness — was  far  more  injurious  to  the  community, 
than  though  he  had  forged  a  note  upon  the  Bank  of  England. 
The  ground  on  which  the  Sabbath  claims  the  protection  of 
human  laws  is  simply  the  ground  on  which  any  other  institu- 
tion claims  that  protection  ;  and  that  is,  it  is  an  ordinance  of 
God,  and  indispensable  to  the  well-being  of  the  State.  "There 
is  not,"  says  a  sensible  anonymous  writer,  "  a  single  posi- 
tion in  political  econom}^  which  can  be  more  firmly  esta- 
blished in  the  mind  of  every  candid  man,  than  that  the  strict 
and  universal  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is,  in  the  highest 
degree,  conducive  to  the  public  prosperity.    On  no  sub- 
ject whatever,  is  the  language  of  experience  more  explicit 
and  decisive." 


24 


Our  allotment  as  a  community  is  not  that  there  are  want- 
ing wise  and  wholesome  laws  Tor  the  protection  of  the  Sab- 
bath, but  that  they  are  not  carried  into  execution.  I  am 
not  insensible  of  the  difficulty  of  this  service;  nor  have  I 
any  doubt  that  it  exists  to  a  degree  beyond  what  is  gene- 
rally conceived.  And  for  myself,  I  gratefully  express  my 
obligations  to  the  magistracy  of  our  metropolis,  for  their 
fidelity  in  suppressing  the  profanations  of  the  Sabbath,  es- 
pecially during  the  hours  of  divine  worship.  Still,  I  must 
express  my  conviction,  that  as  our  civil  authorities  have 
done  much  to  prevent  this  evil,  so  they  may  do  more.  God 
grant  we  may  not  be  left  to  learn  too  late,  that  the  Sab- 
bath is  one  of  the  selectest  gifts  of  heaven  to  men.  When 
like  other  nations  and  other  communities,  we  have  seen  that 
virtue  and  happiness,  and  those  social  and  civil  privileges, 
which  are  secured  by  this  sacred  institution,  swept  away ; 
then  shall  we  be  taught  that  the  Sabbath  is  the  palladium 
of  the  dearest  rights  of  man,  and  that  the  best  interests  of 
the  community  can  no  longer  be  consulted  with  enforcing 
its  observance. 

There  is  a  single  inquiry  more,  and  I  will  lay  down  my 
pen.  Does  not  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath  bring  home 
the  obligation  to  the  bosom  of  every  patriot  to  support  its  au- 
thority both  by  his  example  and  influence  ?  Nor  can  I  too 
forcibly  urge  this  demand  on  myself  and  my  fellow-citizens. 
If  there  were  no  other  considerations  than  those  of  private 
interest,  I  would  not  cease  to  urge  the  sacred  observance  of 
this  day.  No  man.  no  community,  ever  lost  any  thing  by 
keeping  the  Sabbath-day  God  will  bless  the  Sab- 

bath to  those  who  observe  it,  and  he  will  curse  all  other 
time  to  those  who  profane  it.  The  profanation  of  this  day 
is  too  bold  and  sacrilegious  an  invasion  of  God's  property, 
not  to  be  followed  with  the  malediction  of  the  Great  Pro- 
prietor of  time  and  Creator  of  men.  Here  fidelity  com- 
pels me  to  say,  and  I  do  it  with  reluctance,  that  there  arf- 
not  wanting  in  our  city  painful  demonstrations  of  too  ge'ie^ 


25 

tal  a  disregard  to  the  Sabbath.    Thongh  by  no  means  so 
deeply  corrupted  as  other  and  older  communities,  our  flour- 
ishing metropolis  is  rapidly  advancing  toward  that  un- 
blushing profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  which  is  the  re- 
proach, and  unless  repented  of,  must  be  the  ruin  of  the  na- 
tions that  inhabit  the  other  hemisphere.    There  are  multi- 
tudes of  men  in  the  midst  of  us,  who  are,  or  mean  to  be, 
the  abettors  of  social  order,  and  who  would  be  disappointed 
if  they  were  not  considered  the  supporters  of  sound  morality^ 
who  would  well  nigh  feel  guilty  of  a  profanation  of  this  holy 
day,  if  they  did  not  convert  it  into  a  day  of  good  neighbour- 
hood and  social  enjoyment.    Others  there  are,  who  would 
revolt  from  the  detail  of  secular  labour  on  this  day,  but  who 
have  no  misgivings  of  heart  at  an  occasional  journey  upon 
business,  or  jaunt  of  pleasure.    Others  would  not  even  re- 
volt at  this.    How  is  a  sober  man  disgusted  with  the  dissi- 
pation of  pleasure  gardens,  the  rudeness  of  tippling  houses, 
the  indecencies  of  fruit  shops,  as  he  walks  the  streets  of 
our  cit}^  on  the  Sabbath,     And  is  there  no  reason  to 
question  both  the  piety  and  the  policy  of  that  authorized 
violation  of  the  Lord's  day,  which  is  so  prominent  in  our 
fish-markets  ?    On  this  sacred  day  too,  our  butchers  pur- 
chase and  slay  the  very  bcrasts,  to  which  he,  whose  are  the 
cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,  has  guaranteed  one  day  of 
undisturbed  repose.    On  this  day,  the  adjacent  fields  and 
streams  swarm  with  men,  women,  and  children,  who  toil 
and  labour  to  collect  the  fruits  of  the  earth  for  your  con- 
sumption and  mine.    And  what  shall  I  say  of  that  most 
gross  violation  of  the  Sabbath,  which  exists  within  the  walls 
of  some  of  our  printing  offices  ?    Have  the  proprietors  of 
some  of  our  daily  papers  seriously  considered  the  baleful 
tendencies  of  their  perseverance  in  this  needless  and  multi- 
form iniquity?    How  pitiable  is  it  to  hear  men  of  sense 
paliate  and  justify  enormities  like  these  ?    Is  there  not 
enough,  fellow-citizens,  in  the  woi  d  of  the  living  God,  to 
lead  you  to  appreciate  such  vindications,  and  to  trace  them 


'2^ 

to  their  proper  source  ?  Who  has  authorized  any  man,  or 
set  of  men,  to  trample  on  a  divine  institution,  for  the  sake  of 
his  own  convenience  ?  Who  has  relaxed  the  obligations  of 
eternal,  immutable  righteousness,  for  the  accommodation 
of  men  who  serve  mammon  rather  than  God?  I  should 
like  to  see  all  the  apologies  for  violatiiig  the  Sabbath  con- 
densed, and  enforced  with  all  the  ability  which  man  can 
give  them,  and  I  will  pledge  myself,  in  a  single  sentence, 
to  refute  them  all.  And  to  anticipate  a  redemption  of  the 
pledge,  I  will  here  rehearse  the  sentence,  once  indeed  re- 
hearsed with  memorable  solemnity — Remember  the  Sab- 
bath Day  10  KEEP  IT  HOLY  ! 

Allow  me,  fellow-citizens,  affectionately  to  invite  you 
to  a  perpetual  abjuration  of  all  such  violations  of  this  holy 
day.  If  you  would  not  share  in  the  desolations  of  older 
and  more  degenerate  Slates,  beware  how  you  symbolize 
with  their  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  !  O  it  is  enough  to 
sicken  one's  heart,  to  survey  the  innnoralities  that  are 
fostered  by  the  neglect  and  abuse  of  this  day  in  some  of 
the  States  even  of  Modern  Europe.  If  you  are  not  stran- 
gers to  the  ardour  and  enthusiasm  vvhiLli  so  justly  beats 
high  in  the  breast  of  American  citizens  ;  if  you  have  thought 
the  liberty,  laws,  and  political  institutions  of  this  happy 
land,  are  worth  preserving ;  I  entreat  you,  guard,  with  a 
watchful  eye,  a  reproacliless  example,  and  cotnmandiiig  in- 
fluence, this  first  of  all  her  moral  instituions.  Let  it  be 
your  own,  and  the  practice  of  all  around  you,  when- 
ever this  day  commences,  to  suspend  all  secular  busi- 
ness. "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  and  do  all  thy  work : 
but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ; 
in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter,  thy  man  servant,  or  thy  maid  servant,  nor  thy 
eattle,  nor  the  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates."  This  is 
the  divine  command, — a  command  that  occupies  one-tenth 
part  of  the  moral  law,  that  was  written  by  God-s  own  fin- 
ger on  tables  of  stone,  and,  by  his  own  Almighty  voice, 


27 


sounded  out  from  Sinai,  that  it  might  pour  its  obligations 
upon  every  ear,  through  every  age  of  time.  Beware,  also, 
how  you  make  his  day,  a  day  of  pleasure  and  amusement. 
The  common  sense  of  every  man  must  teach  him  that  the 
Sabbath  was  instituted  for  a  higher  purpose.  There  is  no 
more  insidious,  and,  perhaps,  no  more  fatal  profanation  of 
the  day  than  this,  though  it  may  have  found  many  a  pa- 
tron from  Christian  names.  To  regard  the  day  simply  as 
a  pleasant  relaxation  from  the  severity  of  toil,  and  a  tem- 
perate indulgence  in  whatever  tends  to  cheer  the  fatigue, 
and  refresh  the  langour  of  unabated  diligence  through  the 
week ;  these  are  the  very  liberties  with  the  Sabbath  which, 
though  commenced  with  a  trembling  conscience,  and  in- 
dulged by  fearful  gradations,  in  the  result  never  fail  to  thrust 
out  all  the  solemnity  of  its  duties,  and  prevent  all  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  its  blessings.  This  is  that  "  leaven  of  impiety, 
which,  the  more  it  ferments  and  is  diffused,  does  the  more 
corrupt  and  demoralize  the  whole  mass  of  civil  society 
this  is  that  drop  of  poison  which  contaminates  and  polutes 
the  very  fountains  of  grace  and  mercy,  to  which  this  world 
owes  so  much  of  its  purity  and  enjoyment. 

On  the  behalf  of  this  holy  day,  therefore,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  God  of  heaven,  I  ask  your  example  and  your  influence, 
fellow-citizens,  to  redeem  this  day  from  the  invasions  of  a 
profanation  that  must  be  attended  with  consequences  alTect- 
ingly  serious.  To  you  who  are  magistrates,  and  invested  with 
civil  authority,  permit  me  respectfully  to  say — The  ordi- 
nance of  God  and  the  voice  of  a  free  people  have  elevated 
you  to  posts  of  dignity  and  power,  that  you  may  be  the  sen- 
tinels of  the  public  virtue.  To  you  their  eyes  are  directed 
to  maintain  the  sacredness  and  diffuse  the  blessings  of  the 
holy  Sabbath.  The  voice  of  the  King  of  kings  to  you  is, 
Remember  the  Sabbath  day !  In  your  personal  and  official 
capacity  never  lose  sight  of  its  appointment  and  design. 
If,  a-^  our  civil  fathers,  you  would  see  your  children  rise 
up  and  call  you  blessed— if  you  would  embalm  your  names 


2b 


in  the  rcniembrance  of  an  elcvalcr]  people,  and  Iransuiu 
ihcm  with  many  a  grateful  sentiment  to  a  distant  futurity  ; 
be  entreated  to  become  the  exemplary  and  fearless  guar- 
dians of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  To  you  who  are  parents, 
allow  me  to  say — On  you  also  devolves  the  s^acred  charge 
of  perpetuating  and  extending  the  divine  influence  of  this 
holy  day.  Let  your  children  be  instructed  in  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  Sabbath,  and  governed  to  a  conformity  with  its 
reasonable  requisitions  in  early  life.  Even  should  the  men 
of  the  existing  generation  become  demoralized,  there  is  a 
redeeming  influence  lodged  within  the  bosom  of  every  fa- 
mily, that  may  form  a  generation  of  another  spirit,  and  pre- 
serve the  city  from  increasing  corruption.  On  you  who 
are  teachers,  rests  the  same  sacred  responsibility.  Let 
your  schools  be  nurseries  of  morality  and  piety,  as  wel! 
as  of  learning.  To  you,  the  community  have  a  right  to 
look  for  the  influence  of  a  moral  restraint  in  qualifying  the 
youth  of  our  city  for  useful  members  of  civil  society.  And 
may  I  venture  a  word  to  the  individuals  in  private  life, 
whom  the  God  of  heaven  has  destined  to  influence  over  their 
fellow-men  ?  Interpose  that  influence,  fellow-citizens,  in 
behalf  of  the  sacred  Sabbath.  Let  it  be  one  of  the  great 
principles  of  your  conduct,  wherever  and  whatever  yon 
may  be,  to  uphold  the  authority  and  plead  the  cause  of  this 
holy  institution.  To  the  youth,  particularly,  permit  me  to 
say — let  nothing  tempt  you  to  profane  the  Sabbath.  No 
one  external  observance  will  exert  a  more  powerful  influence 
on  your  moral  character  than  a  strict  regard  to  the  Lord's 
day.  You  cannot  become  abandoned  while  you  revere  the 
Sabbath.  You  cannot  become  useless  members  of  civil 
society  so  long  as  you  regard  the  Sabbath.  You  cannot 
put  yourselves  beyond  the  reach  of  hope  and  heaven  so 
long  as  you  sanctify  the  Sabbath, 


